Fresh ideas for building a Christ-centred community

Stories from Messy Nativity sheep trails

Introduction

Knitting sheep may not be your first choice for a hobby this Advent, but there will be people in your community who actually get excited about doing just this! Since the sharing of a Liverpool city project in one of BRF's Messy Church publications Messy Nativity we have heard about many communities sharing the real story of Christmas by creating a Messy Nativity Sheep Trail for families. Knitted sheep are placed in shops and buildings and families hunt for their names to complete a trail leaflet. On the leaflet is the real story of Christmas. Communities are encouraged to have fun exploring yet also discovering that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus and not Santa!

Schools have become involved, shops have offered vouchers for prize draws, and churches have created special services to invite the sheep and families to! BRF have received stories, photos and encouragement about bringing Jesus back into Christmas.

As the sheep knitting projects continue year after year, we want to encourage you to send us your stories and photos to share with all the Messy communities. Look upon this section of the Messy Church website as your sheepfold. Help us to gather the stories by posting them here.